Lost Past
by Ariolos
Summary: When I woke up in the Labyrinth, I could remember nothing - nothing but my name and some vague recollections of the past I had lost. I am Perseus, child of Athena, and if I am to regain my memories, I must fight for them, and I shall battle to my very last breath.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

I woke up to the chime of a glass grandfather clock on the other side of the room. My vision was blurry, meaning I couldn't see much but a smudge of white light. The room came into focus. I was encased in a cylindrical glass case with cold steam settling down. It felt so cold and there was ice frozen all around my body and clothes. Looking down, I found myself wearing a white shirt with a large bloody rip on the front and black trousers stained with soot, blood and ashes.

The machine whirred into life as the glass case slid open slowly releasing the cold steam out into the room. I sat up and saw a room with different various machine prototypes and blueprints all across the room. The room was modern, with a desk and a laptop with a large blue glowing delta in the middle. The walls were pure white but for one which was constructed of glass, allowing a view of... I don't know. It looked like a city with giant spear-like towers pointing into the night sky with tiny yellow specks of light illuminating the whole landscape of the night. I felt like I have never seen such a brilliant view before in my whole life.

I stood up. I instantly felt queasy and dizzy. I had a severe headache and my body was not at ease with itself. I dragged myself towards the desk and slumped down on the chair. I sat there completely oblivious of where I was, what I was doing in that machine and... I didn't know who I was. My name, where I came from, my age... But how? I didn't remember a thing. Some things flashed through my head. Short shards and pieces of my memory. Athena, Olympus, gods.

I decided to get out of here and find some answers. I went through a door that slid open to my surprise. I ended up in a compartment, a library. I gaped at the sheer size of the library. It was full of huge assortment of books from history to mechanics to philosophy and science. I had a I couldn't help but reach out for the first book there was and read. I loved books. At least there were some things I remembered. I swiped through half of the book in a matter of seconds and managed to read the whole book in a minute. It was strange because I could remember nearly everything the book said, like I was absorbing every last word of it. I carried on reading to my curiosity of the world I was living in.

I spent my whole time here in the library and I learned a lot by reading. But, unfortunately, I did not find anything in the books about myself. I picked another book and read the cover. Complete edition of Greek mythology. I opened to the first chapter and I saw the title: Perseus and the quest to slay Medusa. Perseus... Yes my name is Perseus. More memories came back to me. My mother is Athena and my dad's name is James and there was a girl. She was called Emily.

Something felt really hot in my pocket. I looked down at my pocket to find a circular white glow in my pocket. I took it out and I examined it. It was shaped like a coin, a drachma. On one side there was a picture of a woman's head protruding with an olive leaf on the left side of the coin. On the other side of the coin was a picture of an owl with its wings spread, chiselled on. Above the owl were Greek letters engraved on the coin. The letters were "alpha theta epsilon" with spears crossing over the Greek letters. Above the AΘE was another Greek inscription. It said "δικαστύς" meaning judgement or the judge. I flicked the coin and a sword suddenly appear in the palm of my hand. It was made of bronze excluding the leather strap the wrapped around the handle of the sword.

"Celestial bronze," a voice murmured behind me and I swung my sword at the person. I pointed it at the neck of the man standing calmly and staring at me with a concerned look. The man was in his fifties. His hair was grey and cut short. He was wearing a trenchcoat with a large pocket stitched on. He also wore black mountain climbing pants and a white shirt that looked like as if it had been dumped on a pile of soot.

"You seem to be very familiar with that blade, child of Athena."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

"My name is Daedalus. You should know who I am, at least. There is no time, you must follow me. They are coming..."

"Who's comi-"

"We have got to go now!"

I layed down my sword and it somehow knew that I didn't need it at this moment and turned back into a coin.

"Come on we must hurry!"

Daedalus grabbed my hand and we ran towards the library entrance. I could hear distant footsteps getting closer. The doors of library slid open and we went through. I suddenly realised that the room I was sleeping in had changed or swapped with a corridor with cobwebs and scratches on the stone walls. There were Ancient Greek inscriptions on the walls.

"Wait how did you do that? I mean this was the room I was sleeping in!"

"Yes, I'll explain everything I can after we get out but we have no time. The minions of the Titan Kronos are coming after me and they will get you too. I'm here to protect you, child of Athena. This is the Labyrinth that I have built for king Minos of Crete to keep the Minotaur in ancient times. Now I live here."

"Well, that explains a lot of things," I groaned sarcastically.

"No time, hurry!"

The sound of monsters growling and people shouting orders were getting louder. We went through another door and we saw daylight through the entrance. Daedalus got through but then a sword appeared at my throat and I froze. Daedalus looked back at me.

"Too late Daedalus. Your friend here is going to die if you do not give us Ariadne's string."

"No!"

I glimpsed back slightly and I saw a teenager with blonde hair around 17, 18 years old with bright blue eyes.

"Luke Castellan, you don't need to do this."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

I reached slowly into my pocket for my coin. Daedalus was still arguing with the guy called Luke and the other demigods closed in.

"Ok, I will give it to you, just let the boy go!"

Daedalus rummaged through his large pocket. I grabbed my coin and flicked it. Luke got distracted by the coin and I tripped him over, just able to avoid his blade from cutting my throat. Luke collapsed onto the hard stone surface and I caught the coin as it morphed into a sword.

"Run Daedalus!"

Daedalus was shocked at what I just did and complained "But I need to-"

"Just go! I can hold them off."

Daedalus ran out of the entrance into the daylight. I was too busy trying to hold off the demigods that were surrounding me with their swords drawn. Luke got up and picked up his sword and glared at me.

"You tripped me up."

"Well done for stating the obvious, Luke."

"Who are you? And how come I don't know you?"

"Sorry, just woken up and I don't know what's going on."

I lashed at one boy, grabbed his hand and twisted in a full 360 motion, flipping him in midair. Another boy came at me with a spear and I grabbed the spear's end with my bare hands and kicked him in midair. I took the spear from him and threw it with my left hand at another demigod charging at me. Two demigods were charging at me at either direction with their swords pointing straight at me. I jumped of the swords and kicked them in the head simultaneously and landed on their chest and the two demigods crumpled. I swung my sword backwards and hit another guy with the hilt and brought it back and stabbed it through another demigod's shoulder, not intending to kill him. Luke decided to join in and so we dueled furiously. He swung his sword and I ducked avoiding my head getting chopped off and I knelt, swinging myself counterclockwise and knocked Luke to the floor, and sent his sword skidding across the floor. I stood up slowly,aiming my sword at his neck, staring at him.

"Please, you can join Kronos' army, you can rule with us." Luke pleaded.

"I think I had enough of you,"

I made a quick slash across his leg and blood started to pour out. I had specifically located the aorta, a blood vessel that transported blood specifically to the legs and would make him incapable of walking for a few days unless somebody found him. He cried out in agony, cursing at me. My sword shrunk into a coin again. I walked out of the entrance. I ended up in an alleyway. It had bins overflowing with trash. It was night. Strange. It was day a few minutes ago and now I saw a full moon shining down at me. I looked back at the entrance to the Labyrinth but there was nobody there. Luke and the others had disappeared. Instead there was a delta engraved near the entrance of the Labyrinth, glowing bright blue. I walked out into the street and I saw cars and taxis speeding along the road. Street lamps shone dimly yellow onto the busy people hustling across the sidewalk. I looked up across the street and I saw the Empire State building towering over me. It was Manhattan. It felt awkwardly unfamiliar as if I had never seen anything like this before.

"Perseus!"

I looked around to see a Daedalus staring at me in amazement.

"How did you hold all of them off! Come on, we have to go. It's been a week since I saw you-"

"A week?"

"Yes, a week. The Labyrinth messes with time like that. It can slow it down and speed it up however it like if you're inside. We have to get you somewhere safe. while you were gone, I was at camp."

Camp. Seemed familiar.

"You'll be safer there than here. Oh, and when we get there, you MUST call me Quintus. Nobody must know my real identity, not even the people you trust."

"Why?"

"The camp is in grave danger and I am thinking whether it is worth saving or not. So I went undercover. Luke visited me several times but I needed you to be safe so I had no choice but to hide you in my storage room and take you to camp when you wake up, without you getting involved but it didn't quite work out as planned."

Daedalus took out a golden drachma, very similar to mine, and tossed it into the air. It landed on the sidewalk and shouted, "Stêthi, Ô hárma diabolês!" which I translated it to "Stop, chariot of damnation!" which I found quite amusing. I looked around if anyone was staring at us, but nobody noticed Daedalus and I. The coin fell in the road and the asphalt, around where the coin fell, turned dark and melted into a rectangular pool of red liquid. Then a New York Taxi erupted from the ooze. It wasn't yellow like the others though. Instead, it looked like it was made out of smoke and the panel on top of the taxi said something like GYAR SSIRES which I read as the Gray Sisters. The passenger window rolled down and an old woman with frizzy hair that covered her eyes stuck her head out of the window and shouted, "Passage? Passage?"

"Two to Camp Half blood!" shouted Daedalus.

"Who the hell-"

"Just get in, will you?"

"Ok!"

I got in reluctantly. Daedalus was obviously frustrated with something. The interior was also smoky. The seats didn't look very pleasant to sit on with the black chains replacing the normal seat belts that normal taxis had. On the front seats, there were three old woman instead of one, all with the same frizzy hair and the black sackcloth dresses, all crammed into the front. They started arguing about who got the eye today and I realized that these women were literally the Gray Sisters. I felt really uneasy by the fact the I was going to get driven by three crazy woman that have to share an eye, travelling in absolute supernatural speed. The woman in the driver's seat floored the accelerator and the taxi accelerated into super speed. I looked outside and saw the whole world blur out of focus and Daedalus and I held onto the black chains as the car rocked forward and sideways. This was the most craziest ride of my life.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The Gray Sisters never cared how fast they went and they could never keep their eye in one place. The whole journey was chaotic. The driver was screaming for her eye back and the others were arguing that it was their turn to have the eye today. What selfish little bitches they were. I couldn't stand them arguing anymore.

"Just shut up and drive you idiots! we're going to crash if you don't concentrate!"

"Oh, don't worry, we never miss our destination!" cackled the driver, "Now give me my eye back!"

"No, it's my turn!"

Daedalus took out a strange looking device. It had a meter in the middle and a blue delta LED that blinked on and off.

"We don't have much Time until Luke gets his army into the Labyrinth and find the camp's entrance. I estimate a week with the string. I did tell him a clear sighted mortal would be better. Now it's too late."

The taxi skidded to a halt.

"You have reached your destination!"

The driver's voice was drowned out by a roar behind the taxi.

"Uh oh, get out now! We must go!"

I didn't like the sound of the roar but Daedalus and I reluctantly got out into a road. The taxi zoomed off into the horizon where the sun was just rising.

"Uh, Perseus? I think we should run…"

"Why?" I asked as I turned around and I understood why. There stood in front of us was an Aethiopian Drakon. I read about them in the library. It was an African breed and it was very angry. I looked up a hill and several teenagers with bows were staring at Daedalus and I.

"From now on, you call me Quintus."

"I'm not sure this is the right time to say that."

I stared at the Drakon as it licked its lips and slowly crawled its way towards us. I took out my coin and flicked it. The Drakon reacted to the sword and roared at us. It was approximately 30 feet long and flashed bright green eyes. Thankfully, it did not have any wings but it had arrows in its scaly red hide. I knew the beast was definitely very pissed. The drakon lunged at us, I quickly jumped, with my sword held above my head and stabbed the dragon's legs. The drakon let out a cry so shrill, it felt like it shook the whole world. It started to shake its legs free from my grip.

I was barely holding the blade's handle as the dragon's leg flew up into the air. The blade slid out of the flesh and I stabbed the drakon's chest as it let out a roar. I pulled my sword downwards, slicing its hide until I landed on the ground safely. The Aethiopian drakon collapsed on its side. My sword was glowing gold and morphed back into a silver drachma, still glowing but fiery white instead.

"Perseus, we must go now!"

We started running up the hill, towards the guys in leather armour and bows. They were all flabbergasted.

"Wow, that was awesome!" one guy remarked.

"Welcome to camp Half-Blood, safest place for demigods."

"You'll have a great time here!"

I looked down from the hill and I saw a cabins arranged in a omega in the middle of the camp. There was a lake and an amphitheatre and everything a Greek camp should have, I think?

"We'll take you to Chiron and Mr D."

My head was getting dizzy again as if it was calling back lost memories, trying to pull out any extract. Chiron… I looked back at Daedalus as he had a concerned look.

"Can I have a moment with you Perseus?" Daedalus asked.

"Sure."

"I need to return to the Labyrinth. But Luke has got Ariadne's string so the camp is in grave danger."

"How the hell did you lose that!"

"Shh!" Daedalus looked back and smiled back at the other campers as if there was no big problem. They were staring at us in mid-talk and then carried on with their business.

"Ok! Then how are you going to get it back? Didn't you look for it?"

"No, I don't know everything in the Labyrinth. It is out of my control even though I built it. The Labyrinth changes every time - even the entrances. The maze automatically shifts in and out of places. That is why it is so complicated and easy to get lost. That is why Luke needs Ariadne's string to guide his army quickly through the maze. Luke only needs to get through Antaeus' arena and he is through now. He has got an army of monsters and demigods and they will annihilate the whole camp. Kronos' forces are too strong. I can't explain why I have to go back, but I will see you soon if I can."

I watched Daedalus sprint off into the camp. I wondered where in the camp, the entrance to the Labyrinth was.

"I wonder where Quintus is going," one guy asked, "It seems you know him very well."

"Yeah, even though I just met him like a day ago."

"C'mon, I'll take you to Chiron and Mr D and you guys" - the demigod pointed at the other campers - "clear up this drakon mess until I come back."

"The name's Lee Fletcher by the way."

"I'm called Perseus."

"Can I call you Percy? Seems like it's easier to remember."

"Yeah, sure."

Lee and I headed down, past a volleyball court and in front of us was a colossal house that was painted sky blue. Standing outside in the house's deck was an old centaur. Next to the centaur was a girl, around 15, with blonde hair tied up in a pony tail. She had stormy gray eyes, just like mine. She pointed at me and Lee. Chiron turned around and looked as if he'd just seen something a hundred times worse than an Aethiopian drakon.

"But that is not possible!"

"Percy, this is Chiron, our activities director" - Lee turned to Chiron - "you should have seen him in action! He killed the Aethiopian drakon and-"

"Please excuse us Lee and Annabeth. I'm afraid we'll have to talk about Theo later."

"But-"

"Later Annabeth, I have serious matters discuss with this young man."

Annabeth grumbled and walked off, glaring at me every second, until she was out of my line of sight.

"How are you alive?"

"Uhh, what do you mean by that?"

"What? Do you not remember me?"

"Hey I have no memory of anything at the moment. I only know my name and that fact that I'm the son of Athena."

Chiron was even more scared than before. What was his problem?

" But you died over a century ago! How can you just resurrect after more than a century?"

"Hey, what are you talking about! I only just woke up in the middle of a skyscraper in the Labyrinth and ended up in Manhattan and get driven to here by three crazy sisters and ended up fighting an Aethiopian drakon, nearly getting myself killed! Give me a break!"

I looked towards the cabin longing to get in and have a rest but I was in no mood for a sleep. I had to find out who I was. I saw the girl earlier called Annabeth heading towards us again.

"Annabeth! Take Percy for a tour around the camp. Obviously he needs an update to the new facilities here," Chiron said, "He is your half brother after all!"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

"So you're a son of Athena, are you?"

"Yeah, that was kind of the only thing I can remember from my amnesia. My first name, my family and a girl named Emily. I think she was more than a friend to me."

"You lost her?"

"I seriously don't know. I can't remember anything. Where I came from, what kind of person I am, My friends and even if they are alive, they aren't here which is strange and nobody knows me. I just have a very awkward feeling I've been here all my life. I know this may not be my business but you seemed pretty stressed back there when you were talking to Chiron."

"Yeah, I lost someone too." Annabeth stared at the ground. "He's called Theo, son of Poseidon. Everybody thinks he's dead. He was in an exploding volcano."

"Is that normal, here?"

Annabeth smiled. "No, not really. But my friend always gets into so much trouble."

I was exhausted, and I figured Annabeth felt the same. She took me for the tour around the camp explaining all the great stuff in the camp like the lava wall, magic archery, pegasus riding and fighting monsters. She didn't seem at all in the mood to talk. We were returning to the cabins as Annabeth described how different cabins are suited for Olympians. I met a few other campers. Most of them were nice like Charles Beckendorf, Tyson the cyclops, Connor Stoll, Travis Stoll just to name a few but some were complete bitches like Clarisse La Rue, Daughter of Ares.

"There is our cabin over there, number six." She pointed at the grey building with a carved owl above the door and plain white curtains.

I took a look inside through the door and I saw bunk beds pushed to the walls and there was a whole workshop and a library. Oh just what I need! At the other side of the cabin was a _smart_ board and loads of blueprints and old war maps stuck to the walls and 3D models of famous buildings on shelves.

I looked back at Annabeth with satisfaction.

"Well?" she asked.

"This place is awesome."

"I'm the head counselor for our cabin and a guy called Malcolm is the second in command. Well, the next place we are visiting is the armoury next to our cabin. We'll have to choose your weapon."

"By the way, I already have a weapon." I took out my coin and showed it to Annabeth.

"But… that's just coin."

I flicked and caught it in midair and it morphed into a spear instead.

"Funny, it usually turns into a bronze sword."

Annabeth was staring at my spear. It was bronze like my sword and it had engravings of Greek patterns across the spear.

"I have never seen anything like that in my life! Where did you get that?"

"I don't know, I sort of just found it in my pocket when I woke up in Daedalus' workshop."

"Wait, did you say Daedalus' workshop? You've been there and you came out of the Labyrinth?"

"Well, I sort of-"

"We have got tell Chiron about this."

"Hey, what's so important about the Labyrinth to you?" I knew that the camp was in danger from Luke's forces but I never knew about the camp knowing about it to.

"I was in a quest with Theo and a satyr named Grover, you'll meet him soon. We went into the Labyrinth to get Ariadne's string before Luke so he can get through the Labyrinth quickly to invade our camp."

"Oh. The problem is that Luke already has the string. Daedalus lost it to Luke's hands. He's got it now."

Annabeth stopped and turned. Her face was completely bewildered.

"What? This is getting very hard to understand."

"I should start from the beginning. I woke up in Daedalus' workshop, not knowing who I am. I go into a Library and read some books and get to know the world a bit, because I just love books like that. Daedalus appears behind me saying I'm a child of Athena and we have to go because Luke and other demigods were chasing him and if they find me, Daedalus will be in big trouble, I don't know! Then Luke gets me and I fight off all the demigods and Daedalus escapes, losing Ariadne's String. I get out of the Labyrinth and find myself in Manhattan a week after Daedalus escapes the Labyrinth and he finds me there and we go on the Chariot of Damnation to camp and I have to fight a freaking Aethiopian drakon and Daedalus says he has to return to the Labyrinth and I have no reason why. Oh my gods, how the hell did I say that in less than 30 seconds!"

Annabeth was a good listener but she had as many questions as I had about myself. I was totally out of breath after explaining to Annabeth about my journey to camp.

We returned to the Big house where Chiron was talking with a scruffy looking man drinking a can of diet coke. Annabeth goes up to Chiron and says something in his ear. Chiron looks up at me with a face that said, "Well isn't that typical of you…" Annabeth turned back to me and introduced me to Mr D who I found out he was Dionysus.

I instantly said, "I thought you were the god of wine?"

"Yes, I am but my father banned me from drinking wine as a punishment," Mr D answered dryly. "Now I have to put up with coke!"

"Anyway, shall we discuss about your journey inside?" Chiron interrupted.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

The Rec room was used for council meetings, though only Chiron, Annabeth and I were using it currently. It had a table tennis table in the middle surrounded by chairs and a nacho cheese machine in one corner of the room. I told Chiron everything about my journey in detail.

"So Luke has the String and he just needs to get through Antaeus' arena to get to camp?" Chiron was pacing up and down on the other end of the table tennis table. "We have no choice but to enter Labyrinth. Luke is going to get past Antaeus sooner or later. Kronos' forces will come through Zeus' fist anytime. We must stand ready for battle. We will talk about this during the campfire. You two should go and have dinner. Oh, and Annabeth, the Apollo cabin just said that they have finished Theo's burial shroud. Would you like to burn it today, before dinner?"

Annabeth's face darkened. "Yes sir."

I wondered how close she was to the guy called Theo.

"But Chiron, is there any way of getting my memory back?"

"I don't think it has been stolen from you. I think you should ask Daedalus yourself." Chiron nodded at Annabeth.

She blinked at Chiron for a few seconds and then said, "You're asking me to take him with me on _my_ quest?"

"It has become apparent that Percy here needs to be reminded of who he is. The only person who can answer that is Daedalus himself. I know him but he must find his own lost past himself." Chiron turned to me. "I insist you go up stairs to the attic to consult the Oracle. It will hold some answers of your past. I need a quick word with Annabeth."

I nodded and I went up four flights upstairs and found a green trapdoor. I opened it and went through. there was rush of warm air that blew across my face. It smelled of old rotten wood and a corpse decomposing. I pushed myself up onto the attic floor. The first thing that caught my eye was a decomposing corpse on the other side of the attic. How surprising! I looked around and found glass jars stacked with old body parts, old bronze armor and swords, a scarf hanging on a hanger, a giant Hydra head trophy, cobwebs and an immense amount of dust in the room.

I came closer to the shriveled up corpse. Suddenly, sickly green smoke poured out of its mouth hissing like a million snakes. The trapdoor slammed shut behind me. The mist thickened and twisted around me snaking up my body. I heard a distant voice in my head, "I am the spirit of Delphi, speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo, slayer of the mighty Python. Approach, seeker, and ask."

I felt like I was going to be sick, but I asked, "What is my past?"

The Oracle replied,

 _"The wielder of judgement shall fall,_

 _Losing his past at Marathon's call,_

 _Friend and friend shall be torn asunder,_

 _As a result of Rome and Greece's most foolish plunder,_

 _An anachronic hero to alight,_

 _Much to some one's most terrible fright,_

 _Foes fall when time itself is ended,_

 _To battle in Tartarus 'till the pride of Athena has been amended._

 _Wisdom's daughter walks alone,_

 _to face challenges beyond her own._

 _The Mark of Athena burns through Rome,_

 _To lead to peace between old foes_

 _Twins snuff out the angel's breath,_

 _Who holds the key to endless death._

 _Giants' bane stands gold and pale,_

 _Won through pain from a woven jail,_

 _Brother and sister reunite ,_

 _To battle through the endless plight"_

I stood there in silence as the mist was swallowed by the mouth of the oracle and the hissing stopped. The attic was silent as I was trying to figure out what the Oracle's words meant.

I went through to find Chiron and Annabeth still talking about Theo. They looked up at me.

"Well, how was it?" Chiron asked.

"I couldn't understand half the words she was saying. I can relate some stuff to me. I can recite the whole thing but it's pretty long."

Chiron nodded at Annabeth.

"I'll be waiting outside for you."

She got up and left the room. After that, I told Chiron everything I heard from the Oracle. He seemed pretty concerned about what he had just heard.

"It is nearly the same as the prophecy you told me when you were last here and the first few lines have already been fulfilled. Can you promise me not to tell anybody else about what you just heard?"

I nodded.

"Very good. Now off you go and head to the amphitheater. we're going to burn Theo's shroud. Annabeth will show you to the place."

Everybody seemed to be heading down towards the amphitheater. The shroud was made from a sea green sheet with a trident embroidered on it. Everyone stood around the campfire and I saw Annabeth crying next to me.

"Theo Jackson was a brave demigod. He was on a quest and unfortunately was in a middle of an explosion in mount St. Helens. After waiting two weeks for his return, we can only assume he is dead. After so long a silence, it is unlikely our prayers will be answered. I have asked his best, surviving friend to do the final honors."

I suddenly felt a presence in my brain. My head was burning up and I closed my eyes. I was having a vision. No. This wasn't a vision, it was happening right now. I saw a whole wide view of the amphitheater and I saw a boy approaching behind the crowd of people. I guessed this was Theo. He was a son of the Big Three. I opened my eyes and came out of my trance.

Annabeth was halfway through her speech. I turned around and saw the boy. someone else shouted, "He's right here!" and heads turned and gasped to see a boy grinning. I guessed the boy was Theo Jackson.

 **Just to resolve some confusion between THEO and PERCY. I basically named the original Percy to Theo [short for Theseus, son of Poseidon, in Greek mythology], thought it would suit it more and named MY character Percy who is WAY DIFFERENT FROM THE ORIGINAL PERCY.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

My trance never made sense to me. One second I was looking at Chiron making his announcement and then suddenly I was looking at a bird's eye view of the amphitheatre. My brain was still aching after the incident. I decided to forget about it. It must be dyslexic or something. I looked back at Theo. Annabeth didn't seem all that pleased to see Theo at first.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Annabeth stormed over to Theo and hugged him. The other campers fell silent and Annabeth noticed she was making a scene. She pushed him away and said, "I- We thought you were dead, seaweed brain!"

Theo looked around 15 years old. He had black hair with sea green eyes and he looked very tired.

"I'm sorry," Theo replied. "I got lost."

"LOST?" she yelled. "Two weeks, Theo? Where in the world—"

"Annabeth," Chiron interrupted. "Perhaps we should discuss this somewhere more private, shall we? The rest of you, back to your normal activities! Percy, do you mind joining us?"

I nodded and Chiron picked Annabeth and Theo and swung them over his back like they weighed nothing to him. He trotted back off to the Big house. I followed behind.

Theo explained nearly everything about his journey after the Mount St. Helens explosion. He explained about how he got stranded on an island and Hephaestus finding him and how he knows a way into the Labyrinth.

"By the way, who is this guy?" Theo pointed at me.

Before I could answer, Chiron said, "Ahh yes, sorry, this is Percy. He is a son of Athena and he is new to camp. I want you to take him with you on his quest. He has got amnesia and only Daedalus can tell his past. Theo, you said you know a way into the Labyrinth?"

"Yeah. I figured that a clear sighted mortal can lead us to Daedalus' workshop. I think Rachel can help. She can see through the mist."

Annabeth's jaws dropped. She was obviously against the fact that now another person was joining her quest, whom of which was a mortal. I can't blame her.

"Theo, that's crazy!"

Chiron sat back in his wheelchair and stroked his beard. "There is precedent, however. Theseus had the help of Ariadne. Harriet Tubman, daughter of Hermes, used many mortals on her Underground Railroad for just this reason."

"But this is my quest," Annabeth said. "I need to lead it."

Chiron looked uncomfortable. "My dear, it is your quest. But you need help."

"And this is supposed to help? Please! It's wrong. It's cowardly. It's—"

"It is true. Daedalus said it himself." I interrupted.

Everyone stared at me.

"Why didn't you say that in the first place?" Chiron asked.

"Uhh, kind of forgot?"

Theo looked at Annabeth with "I told you so" written all over his face.

Annabeth glared at both of us. "You, Theo, are the single most annoying person I have ever met!" She turned to me. "You might make the second most annoying person!"

Annabeth stormed out of the room leaving us in total silence.

"Is she always like that?" I asked, quite frankly surprised at her rage.

"No, no. She is just frustrated and… jealous." Chiron glanced at Theo. "She will calm down."

"Well, I should get out?" I insisted.

"Yes. Theo and I are going to talk about some personal matters. Do you mind?"

"No, it's fine."

"I will get Argus to take you to Manhattan, tomorrow morning, to pick up Rachel."

That night, after the campfire, I fell asleep straight away. The campfire was great. We had s'mores which were absolutely delicious and the Apollo cabin lead the singing. I sat next to Annabeth, who was still pretty pissed at the fact that she had to bring along a mortal on her quest. When the campfire died out and the session ended, we were told to go back to cabins. I enjoyed the last hours at camp but I still had to find out who I was. That night, I finally got some answers.

I was at a beach. It was noon and the sun was sinking in the horizon. I was with three other people. One was a scruffy boy with a leather tool belt strapped around his waist and was wearing black trousers, a dirty white shirt under a bronze breastplate and a flat cap on his head. He was carrying a sword in his right hand and a bronze shield. There were two other girls. Both of them had blonde hair and one had stormy grey eyes like me. The other girl had the most attractive, brightest blue eyes. She wore a tunic underneath the bronze armour. She had a spear and a shield with Medusa's head engraved in the shield. Aegis. The other girl was wearing a Greek tunic too with just her breastplate. She had a Xyphos and a shield. I guessed she was a daughter of Athena too. The other girl, though. Emily. She was a Daughter of Zeus. She looked so attractive.

I woke up to the sound of Annabeth screaming at me to wake up.

"Jeez, Annabeth! Don't need to scream that loud!"

"Well, I had to shout that loud several times for you to wake up!"

I got up, disappointed at the fact that my dream was cut off by a serious, pissed off, human war machine, and gazed at the clock.

"Argus is waiting for us on Half-Blood hill. Get your stuff and get ready. We're leaving in less than 30 minutes."

I got up and walked out of the cabin towards the showers. Unfortunately I did not have any spare clothes except the Camp Half-Blood t-shirt so I had to borrow a pair of jeans and spare towel from the Big house. They seemed to be overflowing with spare clothes there of older campers.

I stood in the showers, trying to remember my dream. I couldn't stop thinking about the blonde girl with the blue eyes. Emily. The boy with tool belt and the other girl with the stormy grey eyes. She seemed to look a lot like Annabeth. I wish I could remember my past.

I got dressed into a fresh camp Half-Blood t-shirt and the old worn out jeans. I put my hands in my pockets and got my coin out. It had some kind of magic that made to coin appear in my pocket wherever I lost it. I wonder what happens if I run around naked for the rest of my life. Where will the coin appear?

I walked up Half Blood hill to meet Annabeth, Theo and a giant with eyes all over his body. I guessed he was Argus. We got into the van and Argus drove us all the way to Manhattan.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

We visited Theo's mother to say that Theo was alive. We had chocolate chip cookies in an alarming shade of blue. I tried them out and washed it down with water. To my utter delight, they tasted awful. Theo and Annabeth introduced me to his mother and explained how their quest was going. Theo's mother was very pleasant and kind to me.

After finishing off the blue cookies and saying goodbye to Theo's mother, we headed for Times square where we met the girl called Rachel, the clear sighted girl Theo was talking about. She was painted from top to bottom with gold, including her hair and face. She stood with five other kids painted in other metallic colors. Copper, silver, bronze. By Rachel's feet was a sign with the words, "URBAN ART FOR KIDS, DONATIONS APPRECIATED".

We stood there for like five minutes, staring at Rachel and I suddenly blurted out, "Maybe if we push her."

"Yeah, maybe." Annabeth nodded, with her eyes still fixed at Rachel.

Theo shook his head. After a few minutes later, another guy in silver took Rachel's place and she came up to us.

"Hey Theo!" She grinned. "Good timing! Let's get some coffee."

We went up the road to west 43rd street and to a place called Java Moose. Rachel had an espresso extreme and the rest of us had fruit smoothies. I thought I could try it out. (I have no memory of tasting fruit smoothies.) We sat at a table underneath a stuffed moose. The smoothie tasted brilliant.

"So, it's Annabell, was it?" Rachel asked.

"Annabeth," Annabeth corrected. I saw she was deeply frustrated with her. Rachel turned to me and squinted her eyes.

"And you are?"

"Hey, I'm Percy. Nice to meet you."

"So you two are Half-blood too?"

"Shh!" Annabeth said looking around to see if anybody heard. "Just announce that to the world, how about that!"

"Ok." Rachel stood up and shouted. "Hey, everybody! These three aren't human! They're half Greek god!"

Nobody looked at her. She shrugged and sat down. "They don't seem to care."

"That's not funny, mortal girl." Annabeth growled.

Wow. These two seemed to get along very well. I sat back in silence, not intending to join in the rowl.

"Hold it, you two!" Theo interrupted. "Just calm down."

"I'm calm," Rachel insisted. "Every time I'm around you, some monster attacks us. What's to be nervous about?"

"Look," I said. "I'm really sorry about the band room. I hope they didn't kick you out or anything."

"Nah. They asked me a lot of questions about you. I played dumb."

"Was it hard?" Annabeth asked.

They really did not like each other.

"Okay, stop!" Theo intervened. "Rachel, we've got a problem. And we need your help."

Rachel narrowed her eyes at Annabeth. "You need my help?"

Theo explained how they needed to the through the Labyrinth to get Theo and Annabeth's friends out and Daedalus and see what Luke is up to. I explained that we had to find Daedalus to get some of my memory and identity back because he supposedly the only one who has any clue of who he is.

"So you want me to guide you," she said. "Through a place I've never been."

"You can see through the Mist," I said. "Just like Ariadne. I'm betting you can see the right path. The Labyrinth won't be able to fool you as easily."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then we'll get lost. Either way, it'll be dangerous. Very, very dangerous." Theo added.

"I could die?"

"Yeah."

"I thought you said monsters don't care about mortals. That sword of yours—"

"Yeah," Theo said. "Celestial bronze doesn't hurt mortals. Most monsters would ignore you. But Luke…he doesn't care. He'l use mortals, demigods, monsters, whatever. And he'll kill anyone who gets in his way."

"Nice guy," Rachel said.

"He's under the influence of a Titan," Annabeth said defensively. "He's been deceived."

I wondered if there was any relationship between Annabeth and Luke. Rachel looked back and forth between us.

"Okay," she said. "I'm in."

"Are you sure?" Theo asked.

"Hey, my summer was going to be boring. This is the best offer I've gotten yet. So what do I look for?"

"We have to find an entrance to the Labyrinth," Annabeth said. "There's an entrance at Camp Half-Blood, but you can't go there. It's off-limits to mortals."

She said mortals like it was some sort of terrible condition, but Rachel just nodded. "Okay. What does an entrance to the Labyrinth look like?"

"It could be anything," Annabeth said. "A section of wall . A boulder. A doorway. A sewer entrance. But it would have the mark of Daedalus on it. A Greek letter, glowing in blue."

"Like this?" Rachel drew the symbol Delta in water on our table.

"That's it," Annabeth said. "You know Greek?"

"No," Rachel said. She pulled a big blue plastic hairbrush from her pocket and started brushing the gold out of her hair.

"Let me get changed. You'd better come with me to the Marriott."

"Why?" Annabeth said.

"Because there's an entrance like that in the hotel basement, where we store our costumes. It's got the mark of Daedalus."

The entrance of the Labyrinth was hidden behind behind a load of Laundry bins full of rotten hotel towels. Rachel showed us the blue delta sign which was glowing very faint.

"I hasn't been used for a very long time," Annabeth said.

"I tried pressing once," Rachel said., "Just out of curiosity. it's rusted shut."

I looked closely at the blue delta. I pressed the button and the Door slid open revealing a dark staircase leading downwards. Now the delta was glowing bright blue. I looked back at the others.

"Wow." Rachel looked calm.

"Doesn't seem to be." I said.

"Well, it only activates when a half blood touches it." Annabeth said.

"So, after you?" Rachel made way for Annabeth.

"You're the guide," Annabeth said with mocking politeness. "lead on."

We went down the stairs which lead to a spacious brick tunnel. Theo and Annabeth packed flashlights and handed me one. As I clicked them on Rachel yelped. There lying in front of us was a skeleton grinning at us. It was at least ten feet and it had been strung up, chained up by its wrists and ankles. It was hanging in our was a single empty eye socket in the center of its skull. Cyclops.

We carried on, through the giant skeleton's arm, and ended up in a cross road. Ahead, the brick tunnel continued. To the right, the walls were made of ancient marble slabs. To the left, the tunnel

was dirt and tree roots.

Theo pointed left. "That looks like the tunnel Tyson and Grover took."

Annabeth frowned. "Yeah, but the architecture to the right—those old stones—that's more likely to lead to an ancient part of the maze, toward Daedalus's

workshop."

"We need to go straight," Rachel said.

We all looked at her.

"That's the least likely choice," Annabeth said.

"You don't see it?" Rachel asked. "Look at the floor."

I saw nothing except well-worn bricks and mud.

"There's a brightness there," Rachel insisted. "Very faint. But forward is the correct way. To the left, farther down the tunnel, those tree roots are moving like feelers. I don't like that. To the right, there's a trap about twenty feet down. Holes in the walls, maybe for spikes. I don't think we should risk it."

I didn't see anything like she was describing, but I nodded. "Okay. Forward."

"I agree. She is the guide." Theo added.

We went straight on.

"No traps?" I asked.

"Nope. Nothing."

There was a sudden creaking noise ahead of us, like huge doors opening.

"What was that?" Annabeth asked.

"I don't know." Rachel said. "Metal hinges?"

"Oh, very helpful." I remarked.

Then we heard heavy footsteps shaking the corridor.

"Run?" Theo asked.

"Run." Rachel agreed.

We turned and fled the way we came. We didn't get far before meeting 2 dracanae pointing javelins at our chests and a empousa.

"Well, Well." The empousa said. "What have we got here."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

I got my coin out and flicked it. Theo got his pen out and uncapped it, a bronze sword appeared in its place. Annabeth pulled her knife out.

"Kelli." Theo said.

"What? Empousa have names too?" I blurted out.

"OF COURSE WE HAVE NAMES!" Kelli shrieked. She turned to Rachel menacingly. "Taking your mortal pet for a walk? Such fragile things. So easy to break."

Behind us, the footsteps came closer and a huge laistrygonian appeared looming over us with red eyes and fangs.

"Can I eat them?" The Laistrygonian licked its lips.

"No," Kelli said to the giant. "Your master will want these. They will provide a great deal of entertainment." She smiled at Theo. "Now march, half-bloods. Or you all die here, starting with the mortal girl."

We were pushed along the tunnel, flanked by the dracaenae and Kelli and the laistrygonian at the back. Up ahead were large bronze doors. They looked like ten feet tall and emblazoned with a pair of crossed swords. There was a muffled roar of a crowd. I had a bad feeling that this would be an arena. I remember Daedalus' words about Luke having to pass the arena to get to camp. It would be the last straw if we don't stop him now. He would be bound to reach camp in a few hours.

"Oh, yessss," said the snake woman to Theo. "You'll be very popular with our hosssssst."

"Who's your host?" Theo asked.

She hissed which might have been a laugh. "You'll sssssee. You'll get along furioussssly. He'ssssss your brother, after all,"

"My what?" Theo asked.

The giant pushed past us and opened the doors. Theo and I got through and then the giant blocked Annabeth and Rachel's path.

"Hey!" I yelled.

"You two stay here." The giant said.

Kelli laughed. She still had her claw at Rachel's neck. "Go on, you two. Entertain us. We'll wait here with your friends to make sure you behave." The empousa turned to me. "I wonder how good your fighting is."

Theo looked back at Rachel

"I'm sorry. I'll get you out of this."

She nodded as much as she could with a demon at her throat. "That would be nice."

The dracaenae prodded us towards the doorway at javelin-point and we walked out onto the floor of an arena.

The arena wasn't that huge. It was still very spacious considering it was all underground. The dirt floor was circular and enough to fit a car around the rim if you pulled it really tight. There was a fight going on in the centre of the arena between a giant and a centaur. The centaur looked like he was panicking. He was galloping around his enemy with his sword and shield while the giant swung a javelin the size of a telephone pole and the crowd was cheering.

The first tier of seats were twelve feet above the arena floor. Plain stone benches wrapped all the way around, and every seat was full. There were giants, dracaenae, demigods, telekhines, and stranger things: bat-winged demons and creatures that seemed half human and half you name it - bird, reptile, insect, mammal.

The whole arena was surrounded with skulls, ringed all around the edge of railings. Three-foot high piles of them decorated the steps between the benches. They grinned from pikes at the back of the stands and hung on chains from the ceiling like horrible chandeliers. Some of them looked very old - nothing but bleached-white bone. Others looked a lot fresher. In the middle of all this, proudly displayed on the side of the spectator's wall, was a green banner with the trident of Poseidon in the center. What was that doing in a horrible place like this?

I looked back at Theo. He looked even more confused why the banner with his father's trident was hanging in the middle a pile of skulls.

Above the banner was a Luke.

"Luke." Theo said.

He smiled coldly when we recognized him. He was wearing camouflage pants, a white t-shirt and a bronze breastplate. Next to him sat the largest giant I could ever imagine, much larger than the one fighting the centaur. He was about fifteen feet tall and he was wide enough to fit in three seats. He wore only a loincloth and his skin was dark red tattooed with blue waves.

There was a cry from the crowd as the centaur flew past me and crashed on the dirt beside me. He met my eyes pleadingly. "Help!"

"DEATH, DEATH!" The crowd was roaring.

I felt for my coin in my pocket. They confiscated my sword and it had reappeared in my pocket again. The giant was getting closer to the centaur with his javelin raised. I grabbed the drachma and flicked it.

"STOP!" I yelled.

The giant stopped in his tracks. I was pointing my sword at his neck.

"Spare the centaur! Fight me instead."

The giant stood up.

"Who is this puny punk?" The giant bellowed.

Luke stood up.

"This one is demigod that was roaming around the Labyrinth when I found him. He escaped and somehow ended up here. The other one is another son of Poseidon. They were intended for your entertainment, Lord Antaeus."

Antaeus. The son of Gaia and Poseidon. I have slight memory of him. Antaeus glared at me.

"I know you! You were here before, at least a century ago!"

I jumped. How was I at least a _century_ old? Theo, Annabeth, Rachel and Luke were staring at me with awe.

"I don't remember being here." I said. "I don't remember anything."

Damn it. I shouldn't have pointed out I had amnesia. The giant boomed with laughter.

"You don't remember anything? Ha, let's see how much you can remember to fight. You'll pay for what you did to the temple of Poseidon!"

Luke protested but Antaeus just ignored him. He knew that I was good at it.

"Round one!"

The centaur shuffled back as I moved towards the center with my sword still at the giant's throat.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to have the advantage, would it?" I asked the giant as I lowered my sword. The giant scowled.

"Begin!"


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

The giant leapt at me with his javelin. I jumped to the side and knocked his head with my sword's hilt and the giant went flying. He had his back on me and I decided to grab my chance. But before I could stab him from behind, He turned around and knocked me across the arena and I collided with the battleground wall. The giant was charging at me with his javelin lifted, point first at me. I jumped just in time for me to miss the javelin and landed on the thin bar. The giant stared at me in shock as I threw my sword, through the giant's eye and he disintegrated into dust.

I jumped off the javelin as the crowds fell silent.

"No!" Antaeus bellowed. "Too fast! Wait for the kill. Only I give that order!"

Luke was still a bit uneasy seeing me. I had just killed a giant in seconds. He whispered in Antaeus' ear. The giant's eyes lit up and he stood up.

"Hey, you!" Antaeus shouted at Theo. "You're a son of Poseidon?"

"Yes." Theo replied.

"Haha!" He turned to Luke and nodded. "Then why don't you two fight with each other."

Theo and I were stunned for a moment. We glanced at each other and shook our heads.

"Luke!" Annabeth yelled. "Stop this. Let us go!"

Luke seemed to notice her for the first time. He looked stunned for a moment. "Annabeth?"

"Enough time for females to fight afterwards," Antaeus interrupted. He looked back at us.

"Theo Jackson, what weapon shall you choose?"

"I am his favorite son!" Antaeus boomed. "Behold, my temple to the Earthshaker, built from the skulls of all those I've killed in his name! Your skull shall join them!"

Theo stared up at him in horror.

"Theo!" Annabeth yelled at Theo. "His mother is Gaia! Gai-"

Her Laistrygonian captor clamped his hand over her mouth. His mother is Gaia. The earth goddess. Annabeth was trying to tell Theo that was important. The guy had two godly parents. That would make him even harder to kill. Other than that, I can remember something very familiar but I just couldn't get to it. My head was aching again.

"You're crazy, Antaeus," Theo said. "If you think this is a good tribute, you know nothing about Poseidon."

The crowd screamed insults at Theo, but Antaeus raised his hand for silence.

"Weapons," he insisted. "And then we will see how you die. Will you have axes? Shields? Nets? Flamethrowers?"

"Just my sword." Theo replied.

Laughter erupted from the monsters, but immediately Riptide appeared in Theo's hands, and some of the voices in the crowd turned nervous. The bronze blade glowed with a faint light. My blade reacted from Riptide too. My sword glowed a faint gold.

"So, you two are just going to stand there forever? Entertain us!"

The crowd cheered.

"What if we deny?" I asked.

Antaeus sighed. "I don't think there is any choice then. Send out our best warriors to kill them. I think that will make it more fun."

The gates opened and two hyperborean giant, three dracaenae, and two cyclops came out.

Theo and I were staring at the monsters flooding out of the gates in awe. Luke was looking down at us with confidence that we cannot survive this.

"Round two! Haha!" Antaeus bellowed. "Begin!"

The Three dracaenae slithered towards us. One of them had a net and a trident. The other had a xyphos and a shield. The last one had a spear and a shield too. All three lunged at both of us. We dodged and the two hyperborean giants smashed their fists onto the ground and ice broke out of the ground in spikes, piercing its way towards me and Theo. The ice nearly cut Theo before he leapt onto one of the cyclops and slit his throat. The cyclops disintegrated into dust and Theo landed on his feet.

I went running towards the ice and jumped on the hyperborean giant, stabbing his chest with my blade. My blade got covered in ice and the giant punched my off with my sword still stuck in his chest. He was crying out in pain. One dracaenae threw a spear at me. I didn't know until Theo shouted my name. I turned around and caught the spear in my palm and twisted and threw it at the dracaenae before she could dodge it.

Theo was still fighting off the other two dracaenae and the other cyclops was stomping his way towards me. I had to get my sword back. The giant that had my sword in his chest was still crying out in anger and he too was making his way to me. I jumped for my sword and sheathed it out of the giant's chest and threw it at the cyclops and my sword stuck straight through his single eye. I kicked the hyperborean giant so I went flying the direction towards the disintegrating cyclops and I caught my sword. I landed on the arena floor.

Theo had killed the rest of the dracaenae and he came to join me. The hyperborean giants came running at us with ice clubs that appeared out of their bare hands. Theo and I went running at them. I smashed one of the ice clubs and the ice went shattering in every direction. I flipped and decapitated the giant's head. Theo went under, slicing the other giant's shin and the giant collapsed onto the arena floor. I landed on the other hyperborean giant and stabbed him in the chest. The crowd fell silent. Antaeus and Luke were staring at us from above the banner. Theo and I were breathing heavily.

"So, is that all you've got?" I looked up at Antaeus. His red face was stony with displeasure.

"Why don't you come down and fight us yourself? If you've got Dad's favor, come down here and prove it!" Theo said.

The monsters grumbled in the stands. Antaeus looked around, and apparently realized he had no choice. He couldn't say no without looking like a coward.

"I am the greatest wrestler in the world, boy," He warned. "I have been wrestling since the first pankration!"

"Pankration?" Theo asked.

"He means fighting to the death," I said. "No rule. No hold barred. It used to be an Olympic sport."

"Thanks for the tip," Theo said.

"Don't mention it."

Rachel was watching us with wide eyes. Annabeth shook her head emphatically, the Laistrygonian's hand still clamped over her mouth. I pointed my sword at Antaeus. "Winner takes all! I win, we all go free. You win, we die. Swear upon the River Styx."

Antaeus laughed. "This shouldn't take long. I swear to your terms!"

He leapt off the railing, into the arena.

Antaeus cracked his knuckles. He grinned, and I saw that even his teeth were etched in wave patterns.

"Weapons?" he asked.

"I'll stick with my sword. You?"

He held up his huge hands and wiggled his fingers. "I don't need anything else! Master Luke, you will referee this one."

Luke smiled down at us. "With pleasure."

Antaeus lunged. We both rolled under his legs and stabbed him in the back of the thigh.

"Argggh!" he yelled. But where blood should've come out, there was a spout of sand, like I'd busted the side of an hourglass. It spilled into the dirt floor, and the dirt collected around his leg, almost like a cast. When the dirt fell away, the wound was gone.

"Son of Gaia! He gets healed when he's on the ground!" I shouted.

I rolled farther away from him. I jumped on his back and stabbed him in the spine. Again, more dirt crawled up towards the wound and healed it. I looked up saw chains hanging from the ceiling. I had great idea. I looked at Theo and he had the same idea too. I jumped and reached for the chains and caught them using Antaeus' force, thrusting backwards from the pain of the wound I had caused earlier. Theo jumped up on Antaeus' arm and onto his shoulder and reached for a chain too.

"Come down here, you coward!" Antaeus bellowed. He tried to grab Theo and caught a chain. He struggled to climb up because of his weight. I nodded at Theo and I cut off a chain next to me and I slid down, underneath Antaeus' arm, wrapping him in chains, making him unable to move his arm. Theo did the same with his body. He swung around the giant's body like a monkey. He landed on Antaeus' shoulder and tightened the chains. I was still hanging underneath his arm.

"Get me down!" Antaeus demanded.

"Free him!" Luke ordered. "He is our host!"

I got my coin out and flicked it.

"I'll free him."

I stabbed him in the abdomen from underneath his arm. Antaeus bellowed as sand poured out. He was too high up for the earth to aid him. the dirt did not rise up to heal him. Antaeus dissolved, pouring out bit by bit until there was nothing for the chains to hold onto. There was nothing but empty swinging chains and a large sheet of loincloth hanging on a hook.

"Jackson!" Luke yelled. "I should have killed you long ago! You will pay too, whoever you are!"

"You tired," I reminded him. "Let us go, Luke. We had a sworn agreement with Antaeus. I'm the winner."

"Antaeus is dead. His oath dies with him. But since I'm feeling merciful today, I'll have you killed quickly." He said.

He pointed at Annabeth. "Spare the girl." His voice quavered just a little.

"I would speak to her before - before our great triumph."

Every monster in the audience drew a weapon or extended its claws. We were trapped. Hopelessly outnumbered.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Everything happened so quickly. Theo got out a silver whistle and blew it and by the entrance, a loud bark of a hound sounded and Kelli the empousa shrieked. A black mastiff picked her up from behind like a chew toy and tossed her through the air, straight at Luke's lap. The hellhound snarled and the two dracaenae guards backed away. For a moment, the monsters in the audience were caught completely by surprise.

"Let's go!" Theo yelled. "Heel, Mrs O'Leary!"

"The far exit!" Rachel cried. "That's the right way!"

Together we raced across the arena and out the far exit. As we were running, I could hear the disorganized sounds of an entire army trying to jump out of the stands and follow us.

"This way!" Rachel shouted.

"Why should we follow you?" Annabeth demanded. "You led us straight into a death trap!"

"I was the way you needed to go," Rachel said. "And so is this. Come on!"

Annabeth didn't look to happy about it, but she ran along with the rest of us. Rachel seemed to know exactly where she was going. She whipped around corners and didn't hesitate on crossroads. She would say "Duck!" and we would do the same as an axe would swing above our heads. We didn't stop until we came to a large room with old marble columns holding up the roof. Theo stood by the doorway to check for sounds of pursuit, but he nodded, saying it was Ok.

We were all exhausted so we made camp right in the huge room. Theo and I found some scrap wood and we started a fire. I sat by the fire and studied my drachma. Huh. At least a hundred years old eh?

"Something was wrong with Luke," Annabeth muttered as she poked at the fire with her knife. "Did you notice the way he was acting?"

"He seemed pretty pleased to me," Theo said. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes."

"That's not true! There was something wrong with him. He looked… nervous. He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something."

"Probably, Hi Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!"

"You're impossible." Annabeth grumbled. She sheathed her dagger and looked at Rachel. "So which way now, Sacagawea?"

Rachel didn't respond right away. Now whenever Annabeth made sarcastic comments, Rachel hardly bothered to answer. She'd burned the tip of a stick and was using it to draw ash figures on the floor, images of the monsters we'd seen. She did a few strokes and she had drawn a figure of a dracaenae perfectly.

"We'll follow the path," She said. "The brightness on the floor."

"The brightness that led us straight into a trap?" Annabeth asked."

"Lay off her, Annabeth." Theo said. "She's doing the best she can."

"And it is the right way. I think I saw the entrance to the arena before. Daedalus and I kind of sneaked through another passageway to avoid the place and ended up at another entrance of the Labyrinth. I wasn't like Rachel knew they were going to be here anyway." I said.

Annabeth studied me in the face. "Is it true you're actually at least a hundred years old?"

"I don't know! I woke up in the middle of the Labyrinth with no memory."

Rachel smirked. "You're pretty good looking for a guy who's at least a century old."

"Thanks." I said.

"Anyway," Annabeth interrupted. "That coin. Can I see it?"

"Yeah, sure." I handed her my silver drachma.

Annabeth examined the coin. "Judgement. Your sword's name is Judgement."

"Ha, doesn't sound as good as Riptide. But your sword is in a freaking coin! That's just way cooler than a pen."

"I've never seen anything like it. Do you know where you got this?" Annabeth handed the coin back.

"No. I don't know anything about my past. But I've had a few dreams lately from my past."

I stood up. "You know what, I'll collect some more firewood and take first watch. You guys can sleep if you want to."

"Oh, that's just fine..." Rachel murmured as she curled up, using her backpack as a pillow.

"Guess I'm gone, too." Theo replied and lied on the floor.

"Are you sure you're OK with this?" Annabeth asked.

"Yeah I'm fine."

Annabeth knelt on the floor and lied down. I was alone. I went off to collect more firewood around the large room.

I instantly felt the slight shake of the room when the earthquake began. The first wave came. I was quite sure there was something wrong. Dust and debris rustled to the floor. Then the second wave. There was a deafening echo across the whole Labyrinth and the room shook and rumbled as if it was the interior of a rocket lifting off of the surface of the earth. I woke Annabeth up.

"Annabeth! Earthquake!"

She instantly responded and went up to Theo to wake him up.

"Theo! Wake up!"

I went up to Rachel to wake her up.

"Rachel!"

Her eyes opened instantly. She grabbed her backpack and got up.

"This way!" She yelled.

"Tyson-Tyson's in trouble!" Theo said. "We have to help him."

"First things first," Annabeth said. "Earthquake! Let's go!"

All four of us ran at the direction Rachel pointed at. We were almost to the far tunnel when a column next to us groaned and buckled. We kept on running as marble columns collapsed and crashed down behind us. We made it to the corridor and turned to see other columns toppling. Clouds of white dust billowed over to us.

"You know what?" Annabeth said. "I like this way after all."

It wasn't long until we saw light ahead of us.

"There." Rachel said.

We followed her into a stainless steel hallway. I could remember going through here after the Library when Daedalus and I were running away from Luke. Fluorescent lights glowed from the ceiling. The floor was made of metal grate.

"This way," Rachel said, beginning to run. "We're close!"

"This is wrong!" Annabeth said. "The workshop should be in the oldest section of the maze. This can't-"

She faltered because we'd arrived at a set of metal double door. Inscribed in the steel, at eye level, was a large blue Delta.

"We're here," Rachel announced. "Daedalus' workshop."

I pressed the symbol on the doors and they hissed open.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Daylight shone through the entrance to the workshop, the sun coming through the giant glass screen. I remember the view at night. I looked around and I saw the cylindrical case that I was sleeping in. Annabeth and Rachel were gawping at the amazing architecture, designs of buildings and the art on the wall. Theo was looking tense. I realised, too that Daedalus wasn't here and I had a bad feeling that this might be a trap.

I looked at the desk which had three laptops downloading something and a half eaten blueberry muffin on the side and a coffee cup next to them.

"Where are we?" Theo asked looking out of the window.

"Colorado springs," said a voice behind us. "The Garden of the Gods."

Standing on the spiral staircase with his weapon drawn, was Daedalus.

"You," Annabeth said. "What have you done with Daedalus?"

Wait, what? Does Annabeth know him?

Daedalus smiled faintly. He turned to me and winked. "Trust me, my dear. You don't want to meet him."

"Look, Mr Traitor," She growled, "I didn't fight a dragon women and a three-bodied man and a psychotic sphinx to see you. Now where is DAEDALUS?"

"Wow! Annabeth!" I interrupted. "This is Daedalus!"

There was short silence.

"But you're not an inventor! You're a swordsman!" Theo blurted out. I coughed at the random statement.

"I am both," Daedalus said. "And an architect. And a scholar. I also play basketball pretty well for a guy who didn't start until he was two thousand years old. A real artist must be good at many things."

"That's true," Rachel said. "Like I can paint with my feet as well as my hands,"

"Wait, then who did you think Daedalus was?" I asked.

"He's Quintus. He came to camp around a three weeks ago. He is a swordsman trainer at camp." Annabeth said.

"But you don't even look like Daedalus," Theo protested. "I saw him in a dream, and…"

"Yes," Daedalus said. "You've finally guessed the truth."

"You're an automaton. You made yourself a new body."

"Theo," Annabeth said uneasily, "That's not possible. That-can't be an automaton."

Daedalus chucked. "Do you know what Quintus means, my dear?"

"The fifth, in Latin. But-"

"This is my fifth body." Daedalus held out his forearm. He pressed his elbow and part of his wrist popped open - a rectangular hatch in his skin. Underneath, bronze gears whirred. Wires glowed.

"That's amazing!" Rachel said.

"That's weird," Theo said.

"I hope I'm not an automaton." I said.

Daedalus chortled. "No! No you're not. Otherwise, you would remember your past. To make myself into an automaton I had to-"

"Transfer your animus into a machine." Annabeth muttered in interest. "That's ...riot natural."

Daedalus nodded. "Unfortunately, you had a severe brain damage in your hippocampus, your long term memory cortex. That's why you can't remember much about anything. Moreover, I had to design a new machine to fix that problem. I couldn't transfer your animus as it was severely damaged and if something went wrong, your soul could be affected too if you were to die in the process. So I had to preserve you and keep you healthy.

"But wouldn't that take as long as a… Oh." I realised the reason why I was at least a century old."

Daedalus nodded. "I didn't have the knowledge of how to calculate when you were fully healed. That cylindrical machine, there," He pointed at the machine. "It was linked to this remote alarm system that I had on me. And when I had got the message that you were alive, I had to go back before Luke could have found you. I left a Labyrinth exit system just before I ran away from Labyrinth so I knew when you came out of the Labyrinth before getting rid of the other demigods the other day so I knew when and where to find you."

"Can you tell me about my past then?"

Daedalus looked uneasy. "I'm afraid, that must be discussed somewhere private."

"You really are Daedalus," Theo said. "But why did you come to camp? Why spy on us?"

"To see if your camp was worth saving. Luke had given me one story. I preferred to come to my own conclusions."

"So you have talked to Luke."

"Oh, yes. Several times. He is quite persuasive."

"But now you've seen the camp!" Annabeth persisted. "So you know we need your help. You can't let Luke through the maze!"

Daedalus set his sword on the workbench. "The maze is no longer mine to control, Annabeth. I created it, yes. In fact, it is tied to my life force. But I have allowed it to live and grow on its own. That is the price I paid for privacy."

"Privacy from what?"

"The gods," he said. "And death. I have been alive for two millennia, my dear, hiding from death."

"But how can you hide from Hades?" I asked. "I mean…Hades has the Furies."

"They do not know everything," he said. "Or see everything. You have encountered them, Percy. You know this is true. A clever man can hide quite a long time, and I have buried myself very deep. Only my greatest enemy has kept after me, and even him I have thwarted."

"You mean Minos," I said

Daedalus nodded. "He hunts for me relentlessly. Now that he is a judge of the dead, he would like nothing better than for me to come before him so he can punish me for my crimes. After the daughters of Cocalus killed him, Minos's ghost began torturing me in my dreams. He promised that he would hunt me down. I did the only thing I could. I retreated from the world completely. I descended into my Labyrinth. I decided this would be my ultimate accomplishment: I would cheat death."

"And you did," Annabeth marvelled, "for two thousand years." She sounded kind of impressed, despite the horrible things Daedalus had done. Just then a loud bark echoed from the corridor. I heard the ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP, ba-BUMP of huge paws, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded into the workshop. She licked my face once, then almost knocked Daedalus over with an enthusiastic leap.

"There is my old friend!" Daedalus said, scratching Mrs. O'Leary behind the ears. "My only companion all these long lonely years."

"You let her save me," I said. "That whistle actually worked."

Daedalus nodded. "Of course it did, Percy. You have a good heart. And I knew Mrs. O'Leary liked you. I wanted to help you. Perhaps I—I felt guilty, as well."

"Guilty about what?"

"That your quest would be in vain."

"What?" Annabeth said. "But you can still help us. You have to! Give us Ariadne's string so Luke can't get it."

"He already has it." I said. "I told you already, didn't I? Daedalus lost-"

"No," Daedalus interrupted. "I never said I lost it. I said that Luke has it."

"Kronos promised me freedom," Quintus said. "Once Hades is overthrown, he will set me over the Underworld. I will reclaim my son Icarus. I will make things right with poor young Perdix. I will see Minos's soul cast into Tartarus, where it cannot bother me again. And I will no longer have to run from death."

"That's your brilliant idea?" Annabeth yelled. "You're going to let Luke destroy your camp, kill hundreds of demigods, and then attack Olympus? You're going to bring down the entire world so you can get what you want?"

"Your cause is doomed, my dear. I saw that as soon as I began to work at your camp. There is no way you can hold back the might of Kronos."

"That's not true!" she cried.

"I am doing what I must, my dear. The offer was too sweet to refuse. I'm sorry."

Annabeth pushed over an easel. Architectural drawing scattered across the floor. "I used to respect you. You were my hero! You—you built amazing things. You solved problems. Now…I don't know what you are. Children of Athena are supposed to be wise, not just clever. Maybe you are just a machine. You should have died two thousand years ago."

Instead of getting mad, Daedalus hung his head. "You should go warn your camp. Now that Luke has the string—"

Suddenly Mrs O'Leary pricked up her ears.

"Someone's coming!" Rachel warned.

The doors of the workshop burst open, and a young demigod was pushed inside, his hands in chains. Then Kelli and two Laistrygonians marched in behind him, followed by the ghost of Minos. He looked almost solid now—a pale bearded king with cold eyes and tendrils of Mist coiling off his robes. He fixed his gaze on Daedalus. "There you are, my old friend."

Daedalus' jaw clenched. He looked at Kelli. "What is the meaning of this?"

"Luke sends his compliments," Kelli said. "He thought you might like to see your old employer Minos."

"This was not part of our agreement," Daedalus said.

"No indeed," Kelli said. "But we already have what we want from you, and we have other agreements to honour. Minos required something else from us, in order to turn over this fine young demigod." She ran a finger under the boy's chin. "He'll be quite useful. And all Minos asked in return was your head, old man."

Daedalus paled. "Treachery."

"Get used to it, Kelli said.

"Nico," Theo said. "Are you Ok?"

He nodded morosely. "I—I'm sorry, Theo. Minos told me you were in danger. He convinced me to go back into the maze."

"You were trying to help us?"

"I was tricked," he said. "He tricked all of us."

Theo glared at Kelli. "Where's Luke? Why isn't he here?"

The she-demon smiled like we were sharing a private joke. "Luke is…busy. He is preparing for the assault. But don't worry. We have more friends on the way. And in the meantime, I think I'll have a wonderful snack!" Her hands changed into claws. Her hair burst into flame and her legs turned to their true form - one donkey leg, one bronze.

"Percy," Rachel whispered, "the wings. Do you think—?"

"Get them," I said, "Theo and I will buy you some time." I turned to Kelli. "I think I had enough of your insolence."

I flicked my coin and a spear appeared in my hand and I threw it straight through Kelli's chest and she disintegrated into dust. And with that, all Hades broke loose. Annabeth and I charged at Kelli. The giants came right at Daedalus. But Mrs O'Leary leaped to his defence. The demigod called Nico was pushed to the floor and he struggled with his chains. The spirit of Minos wailed, "Kill the inventor! Kill him!"


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Rachel grabbed the wings off the wall. Nobody paid any attention to her. The Laistrygonians were thumping their way towards Daedalus and Mrs O'Leary threw herself on one of them and chomped her fangs into the giant's arm. Theo stabbed the foot of another giant. The giant wailed in pain and flung his arm around, trying to shake Mrs O'Leary off. Annabeth nearly got hit by the hand of the giant, frantically shaking his arm. Instead his arm hit me and I got thrown out of the window.

Glass shattered all around me. I was falling from a mountain, five hundred feet aboveground. I hadn't got any wings on and I was falling at nearly at about 70 mph and rising. I spread my hands out to increase my reaction force from my falling. I was about halfway through the fall when a hand grabbed my shirt from behind. I was suddenly gliding through the valley. I looked up to see Annabeth struggling to hold me.

"Any spare wings?" I asked.

"Coming... soon…" Annabeth struggled to say anything. She had to extend her arms out to keep balance in the air _and_ hold me in one. She couldn't hold me for long.

In the distance, I saw Theo, Rachel and Nico following me from behind and I saw a pair of wings shooting its way towards me. I couldn't get them on with Annabeth grabbing on to me.

"Annabeth! Let go of me!" I shouted.

"What!"

"Now!"

I escaped her grasp and I plummeted down. The wings flew past me and I attempted to grab them. I missed. Unfortunately, I was seconds away from being a small dot, smeared in the centre of the valley of the gods. I shaped myself into a bullet, with my arms by my sides and I increased in velocity. I grabbed the wings and fitted them on. I was struggling to put the coppery wings in mid-air.

Finally, I got them on and I extended. A sudden jolt of pain surged through the joints of my arm and body as I suddenly stopped falling. I flapped them up and I was gliding in the air. I looked behind and saw sighs of relief on everybody's faces. But I couldn't see where Daedalus was. He wasn't with us. I guessed the wings didn't last forever so I decided to land. I swooped down towards the Garden of the Gods. I landed on the terrace of the visitor centre. The others got the message and landed next to me. I ripped off the copper wings and threw them to the ground. I saw the self-adhesives on the wings starting to melt in the setting sun and it shed bronze feather on to the ground. I looked at the location where the workshop had been and it had disappeared.

"The workshop moved." Annabeth guess. There's no telling where."

"So what do we do now?" Theo asked. "How do we get back in the Maze?"

Annabeth gazed at the summit of the mountain. "Maybe we can't. The maze is said to be tied to Daedalus' life force. If he dies, the maze is destroyed. That might stop Luke's invasion but we can't know for sure yet."

If that was the case, how am I supposed to know who I was?

"No," Nico said. "He isn't dead."

"How can you be sure?" I asked.

"One, because I'm the son of Hades and two, I know when people die. It's this feeling I get, like buzzing in my ears."

"What about Tyson and Grover?" Theo asked.

Nico shook his head. "That's harder. They're not humans or half-bloods. They don't have mortal souls.

"We have to get into town," Annabeth decided. "Our chances will get better of finding an entrance to the Labyrinth. We have to make it back to camp before Luke and his army."

"We could just take a plane," Rachel said.

Theo looked uneasy. "I don't fly."

"But you just did."

"That was low flying." Theo replied, "An even that's risky. Flying up really high, that's Zeus' territory. I can't do it. Besides, we don't even have time for a flight. The labyrinth is the quickest way back."

"So we need a car to take us back into the city," Annabeth said. "Rachel looked down at the parking lot and grimaced.

"I'll take care of it." She said.

"How?" Annabeth asked.

"Just trust me."

Annabeth looked uneasy, but she nodded. "Okay, I'm going to buy a prism in the gift shop, try to make a rainbow and send an Iris-message to camp."

My head ached again. It felt like a knock in the inside of my brain. My vision went blurry and the discussion between the other guys went fuzzy and muffled. A bright light flashed in front of my eyes. I wasn't sure if it was a flash light or just something that happens when you pass out. My head felt as if it was about to explode. I cried out in agony and with that, my scenery changed.

I was somewhere else. I felt it. I was back at camp and I was in the Big house's deck. I saw Mr D opposite of me and I looked down. I saw, replacing my normal human feet, were big horse hooves instead. Whoa. That was beyond weird. My head surged with pain again. I realised I was in Chiron's mind. I shouted out to him.

"Chiron!"

I felt the movement of him shaking his head for attention and faltering. I saw a flash of light and total blackness. A faint light shone from the ceiling of a room. I saw a table, with Japanese inscription and different colours of light circling around the room. There were white screens surrounding the room with different pictures of trees with pink leaves and sunsets behind a mountain. On the other side of the table, sat Chiron.

"I see you've got new desktop design."

"What do you mean?" I asked in confusion. I decided to warn him first since I was talking to him in his mind. Anyway, Luke is on his way. This is urgent. You need to arm yourselves, prepare for battle."

Chiron nodded with concern. "Of course. We'll prepare for battle. Oh, and Percy. Have you had this for the first time after you lost your memory?"

"Yes, well some other stuff like different visions of places."

"Have you considered where you've had these trances, because if you have any idea how to control your powers yet, you may cause some amount of destruction."

I realised that I was still on the terrace of the visitor centre.

"Oh no."

"Wake up now! You having high levels of telekinesis spikes in your brain. You might not be in control of it."

My brain started to ache even more vigorously and I screamed. Chiron jumped up the table and kicked my face with his hooves which would have hurt as much as being hit by a sledgehammer to the chin.

I woke up screaming. I was still standing and Theo, Annabeth, Rachel and Nico was struggling for balance as if they were having an earthquake and were gaping at me in shock.

I looked around and I saw the railings, telescopes and even the wall and floor of the terrace were bent and deformed. Some of the floor had crumbled and disappeared through the shop. The railing had twisted and bent into curls and the telescopes were crumpled and crushed like a coke can.

I collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion. Annabeth and Rachel ran to me for aid. My head still felt dizzy even though the trance had stopped.

"My gods! Are you Ok?" Annabeth exclaimed as she helped me to my feet.

"I- I don't know…" I said. "I talked to Chiron. He said he'll prepare for battle. He-, He-"

I faltered and nodded my head unconsciously.

"How did you?" Nico asked in amazement.

"You know, that is the coolest thing I have seen in my life! A person who can control things!" Theo exclaimed.

Annabeth glared at them to shut up. I didn't mind it but all I could think about is how the hell I could have possible manipulate matter and how the hell the mist could hide this massive shit. I had no energy left in me to stand up. My head went blank and I passed out.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

I woke up at the back of a car with my head resting on Annabeth's shoulder. I jumped at the sudden movement of the car crossing a hump and I straightened up. My head was still aching a lot after the incident with the telepathy and telekinesis. I remembered the conversation with Chiron and the aftermath of the destruction I caused at the visitor's centre in Colorado Springs. I wondered if I killed someone in the accident. My brain was out my control.

"Are you okay?" Annabeth asked.

I shook my head. "No, not really. My head is still aching."

I looked out of the window of the car and I saw we were in town. I was squashed in the middle of Theo, Nico and Annabeth and Rachel was in the front seat with a chauffeur who was driving the car through town.

"You've been out cold for like 45 minutes." Annabeth said. "We thought that getting you to camp would be the best choice for your head. Normal hospitals can't handle telekinesis. I talked to Chiron and he said that you have been talking to him through telepathy too. I'm not too sure that was an accident."

I pressed my hand to my head. "N-no. That was during my telekinesis. I was talking to him and then the damage caused by my telekinesis just appeared after I woke up."

Annabeth nodded.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Still in Colorado but we're heading north to Denver. We thought that there might be a higher chance of finding an entrance in a bigger city."

"Oh, okay."

We travelled through the city for another fifteen minutes until we were just leaving Colorado Rachel sat bolt upright.

"Get off the highway!" Rachel said

The driver glanced back. "Miss?"

"I saw something, I think. Get off here."

The driver swerved across traffic and took the exit.

"What did you see?" Theo asked

We were pretty much out of the city now. There wasn't anything around except hills, grassland, and some scattered farm buildings. Rachel had the driver turn down this unpromising dirt road. We drove by a sign that said, "Western Museum of Mining & Industry."

For a museum, it didn't look like much-a little house like an old-fashioned railroad station, some drills and pumps and old steam shovels on display outside.

"There." Rachel pointed to a hole in the side of a nearby hill—a tunnel that was boarded up and chained. "An old mine entrance."

"A door to the Labyrinth?" Annabeth asked. "How can you be sure?"

"Well, look at it!" Rachel said. "I mean…I can see it, okay?"

She thanked the driver and we all got out. He didn't ask for money or anything. "Are you sure you'll be all right, Miss Dare? I'd be happy to call your—"

"No!" Rachel said. "No, really. Thanks, Robert. But we're fine."

The museum seemed to be closed, so nobody bothered us as we climbed the hill to the mine shaft. When we got to the entrance, I saw the mark of Daedalus engraved on the padlock. I thought how Rachel could have seen something so tiny all the way from the highway. I touched the padlock and the chains fell away. We kicked down a few boards and walked inside. We were back in the Labyrinth.

We were in the Labyrinth for around 30 minutes now. Rachel had no trouble navigating through the tunnels as it tried to confuse us throughout the journey. I was tagging along behind Theo and Nico who were currently having a conversation and I was listening from behind, making it hard for me to be noticed by them. Rachel and Annabeth, surprisingly, started a conversation about architecture. I had a slight urge to join in but I couldn't understand half of the monuments they were speaking of. I guessed there was hardly any famous monuments beyond the last century.

"-You could be accepted," Theo said. "You could have friends at camp."

"Do you really believe that, Theo?" Nico asked.

Theo didn't answer. I would think that being a son of Hades would be pretty hard to have friends since you are the son of Hades, the god of death and king of the underworld. Theo looked at him with slight uncomfortableness.

I looked up and I saw that Rachel had stopped in her tracks. Theo, who was unaware, bumped into her.

We ended up at a crossroad. The tunnel continued straight ahead, but a side tunnel T'd off to the right – a circular shaft carved from volcanic rock.

"What is it?" Theo asked.

Rachel stared down the dark, volcanic tunnel. There was a dim light ahead.

"Is it that way?" Annabeth asked.

"No," Rachel said nervously. "Not at all."

"Why are we stopping then?" I asked.

"Listen," Nico said.

I heard wind coming down the tunnel, as if the exit were close. There was a slight scent of mint and pine in the breeze coming from the exit.

Theo's face darkened. "Eucalyptus trees. Like in California."

"There's something evil down that tunnel," Rachel said. "Something very powerful."

"And the smell of death." Nico added.

"Luke's entrance," Annabeth guessed. "The one to Mount Othrys – the Titans'

"I have to check it out," Theo said.

"Theo, no."

"Luke could be right here," Theo said. "Or...or Kronos. I have to find out what's going on."

Annabeth hesitated. "Then we'll all go."

"No," I said. "We can't risk all of us fall into the hands of Kronos or Luke. It's too dangerous."

"But-"

"I'll be quick," Theo promised. "I won't be long."

"Theo, don't." Rachel said. "Don't go up there alone."

"He won't." I said. "I'll go with him."

"Are you sure?" Theo asked. I nodded.

"At least take this." Annabeth took out a cap with the letters N and Y morphed together. I had no idea what the symbol meant and what help a hat would do for us.

"Be quick," Annabeth said. "And be careful."

Theo put it the cap on and we went through the tunnel.


End file.
